Bulls Win In 3 Ots

February 23, 1986|By Bob Sakamoto.

The Bulls tripled their pleasure in triple overtime.

In their most dramatic victory of the season, the Bulls edged the Seattle SuperSonics 129-125 in 3 hours and 9 minutes of blue-collar action Saturday night. This team that had displayed a lack of heart has suddenly showed it has character in winning three straight.

The heroes were many on this ragtag ballcub that is beginning to develop a ``patchwork chemistry.`` To be sure, this isn`t an artistic tapestry. It is more like piecing together the odds and ends of different fabric.

Gene Banks scored a season-high 38 points. Charles Oakley collected a career-high 20 rebounds plus 19 points in 55 marathon minutes of play. Sidney Green had a season-high 28 points. And rookie center Mike Smrek sat and watched the entire game until the final 40 seconds of the third overtime when he dropped in two of four free throws to preserve a Bulls` tremendous effort. And what about George Gervin? Virtually forgotten in the fourth quarter and first two overtimes when Bulls` coach Stan Albeck needed defense more than anything else, the Iceman entered the fray when John Paxson fouled out with 2:23 left. By that time, Oakley and Michael Holton had already fouled out and Dave Corzine had broken his left hand.

``I looked over at Ice and said, `Well, I guess it`s just you and me,`

`` Smrek said with a laugh.

Gervin came through with 1:04 to go and his team trailing 125-124. His 3- point play gave the Bulls the lead for good. They finished the game with the only five eligible players they had left.

Corzine`s injury occured on a freak play at the end of the third quarter. He jammed his hand into a Seattle player while throwing a pick.

``I heard it crack,`` Corzine said, upset over the prospect of missing the rest of the season. ``I can`t believe it. I asked the doctor if there`s any way I can put on a soft cast and play, but he said no. It`s over. What am I going to do about it?``

The fracturing of a bone in his left hand will break Corzine`s streak of 480 successive games, tops in the National Basketball Association.

Bulls` vice president of operations Jerry Krause immediately began considering a replacement. He had just signed forward Tony Brown out of the Continental Basketball Association on Saturday morning to fill the roster spot of center Jawann Oldham, who went on the injured list with a broken cheekbone. Krause said he will consider CBA frontcourt players like George Montgomery, Ron Crevier, Ray Tolbert and possibly ex-Bull Wallace Bryant.

Albeck seemed caught in a flurry of mixed emotions as he tried savoring a victory that may have been all too costly.

``It saddens me about Dave because he was playing his best basketball of the year,`` Albeck said. ``The real sad thing is that the fans didn`t appreciate him. They are going to find out now how much we miss him.

``This is not over yet. We`re going to make the playoffs. We may have to play with a CBA team, but we`re going to give it our best shot. We`re not going to cave in. This game is a good indication of how the team feels.``

The injuries on the Bulls are their most in six years. Michael Jordan is out with a broken bone in his left foot. Orlando Woolridge will visit team physician Dr. John Hefferon on Monday for possible arthroscopic surgery on his right knee that will sideline him for two weeks. Both veteran centers are now out, and Quintin Dailey is in drug rehabilitation. It is starting to resemble the Cubs` starting rotation of last summer.

Yet, in all this adversity, the Bulls are playing their toughest basketball of the season. Seemingly, when nothing else could band them together, adversity is doing the trick. When Corzine`s replacement joins the team for Monday`s game against Detroit, he will be the third CBA player to suit up for the Bulls in the last 10 days.

``One thing I`m really pleased with is the way this team is coming together,`` Banks said. ``It`s been like this all season with the injuries, and we just keep getting tougher. Everybody knows we`re shorthanded, so we just keep on helping each other out more and more. I don`t mind all these new faces as long as we keep winning.``

Two free throws each by Banks and Seattle`s Xavier McDaniel in regulation time produced a tie at 104 after a game in which neither team established control. The Bulls did fritter away a 14-point lead in the second quarter, and the rest of the game was virtually up for grabs.